i would say a year heres why there are a few things i would need to know i would have them live with me because you cant know what they are like unless your with em when you wake up honestly if i really loved the girl 6 months at the most

probably 2 1/2 years... depends on your age and maturity level.. I think that if you are really ready for marriage (not the fairy tail kind) but the kind that you have to hold on to with your teeth to keep (the real kind ) then you should know definately after two years of not just going out on dates but knowing each other and your crazy habits and also FAMILY. cuz families matter, they have a big impact on us and what we think. If you go into a marriage thinking "if this doesn't work then im gonna cheat or leave" then you aren't ready.. the mindset should be this is it...period. I like the will smith philosophy: we might be sleeping in seperate rooms for a while but we know we gotta work it out sooner or later cuz theirs no going back. we're married and thats it.

I more or less agree with what exbi said on the first page. There's no defined minimum time. Marriage is of course a big commitment, and so it's a matter of understanding that commitment and being ready to take it on with that other person. How long it takes to reach that point can be quite variable-- if one ever even reaches that point with someone. I'd say it's more a matter of maturity, wisdom, and effort than simply time (or necessarily even age). I met my wife through eHarmony, wrote/phoned for about 3 months before meeting face-to-face, confirmed in my own head that yes, this is the woman with whom I'll grow old together for better and for worse, and popped the question two weeks after our first meeting. She said yes, we were married 5 months after that, and are now looking forward to our first anniversary very soon with our 7 week old son.

Most successful couples I know talked about marriage and married life with each other (kids, money, house. job, travel, relatives, illnesses, etc...) while still in the dating or courtship phase, well before the question was officially asked. By the time the guy popped the question, while the details, circumstances, and the exact time of the question may have been a surprise to the girl, the question itself was not-- she knew it was coming. While the guy always feels a little nervous when popping the question, the affirmative answer was really no longer in doubt either. I kind of wonder whether those sad awkward spectacles where the guy, say, proposes to the girl live on the big screen TV in the baseball park, but she says "no" right there on live television could have been prevented by a bit more careful planning and communication.